Citroen XM Forum

I have acquired a V6 sei project to recommission after a 25 year garaged lay-up.

Firstly I'd like to thank member Greythe (Mark and Richard) for alerting us to the car and it's impending doom.

The lamp post that stopped the scrap lorry being able to get close enough to the garage a few weeks ago. I kid you not...



Car as stored. Very tight against the left wall, trapped behind the door aperture pillar.



Blinking like a pit pony after a bit of huffing and puffing, jacking and blowing, outside ready for collection.



A few days later, feeling a bit shy at it's first social gathering in 25 years.



Needs a bit of a scrub up, inside and out. Elvis hasn't been washing behind his ears.





How remarkable is this coincidence.
A new member came on a few years ago with another V6sei in storage, which he has ultimately sold to another new forum member, (Hydropneumatique) August 2024. His is in Memphis Blue and has done 64k miles, registered 26/03/1991, but an Rp of 4854...22nd Feb 1990
My new black one was registered 28/03/1991 and has an Rp of 4852...20 Feb 1990.

I've done few tasks, vacuumed and brushed it out, which caused the headlining to come loose...
Washed it, which has improved it noticeably, and gave the engine bay a spray.

I noticed the centre console was wet and the front left corner of headlining was wet and loose, so checked the sunroof drain tubes.
No surprise an Xm sunroof is leaking, but as I couldn't rod the drain tube, investigated and found the tube had been pulled up the A pillar to the point of being stretched, then pushed back down, causing it to be kinked and completely blocked.
The sunroof cassette has been out at some stage, the wind deflector is missing, which requires the unit to be removed to access it.



After working perfectly, the immobiliser keypad is now showing the Red and Green Christmas lights of doom, so either it, or the Ecu has got a bit wet. I'm sure I can resolve that.

Watching with interest!

Nice find! Especially with a manual box - well done for rescuing it

Great it is rescued!

Had a look why the keypad is playing up and noticed that when pressing the keys water was being pumped up out of them.
I checked the Ecu connectors and found them to be dry and clean, so removed and stripped down the keypad.

You can see water inside the keypad contact area and corrosion on the processor board pins. The corrosion must be legacy from the sunroof leaking when the car was in use 25 years ago.

I've given it all a scrub with IPA and now have it in pieces, inside, to dry out.

Not much done today, but I stripped the Fenix 3 Ecu and keypad unit to deal with any water ingress. The Ecu had no water in it and has vent holes in the bottom edge, the keypad had dried out overnight.
After cleaning the components again with IPA and label remover, the keypad was back to functioning correctly, green Led flash and bleep on every button press, instead of randomly flashing on/off/both red and green lights being illuminated and no response to key presses.

I noticed that when the keypad had water in and was not functioning, but in a random fashion, it was also making the Ecu behave irregularly, switching on/off, triggering the fuel pump on/off erratically.
It's worth ensuring your keypad is internally clean and functioning correctly.



I've also removed the spark plugs, which the rear bank ones were really bound in, but came out after a few squirts of penetrant and working back and forth, squirted some engine oil into cylinders and front cam box via the filler and have turned the engine over slowly.

The engine did build enough oil pressure to extinguish the warning lamp, so I'll put a charged battery onto it and give it a spin over.

Rather pleasingly, the dipstick top appeared perfect...until I touched it, at which point it completely broke up.

...the keyboard on the S1 is better than the S2, the buttons are better made than the rubber ones on the S2

A bit more done.
Vacuum away the disintegrating loom tape, which I initially thought might be a mouse nest.



After a number of engine spins with the spark plugs removed and quite a bit more oil down the bores, checking the electrical system, fitting an ignition coil and ensuring a spark on all six plugs, it was time to fit the plugs into the engine.
I did notice uneven cranking (giddy-up), so might need to investigate compression loss at a later date, but then it was time to pour some petrol into the intake and give it a go.



The amount of water, rust chunks and smoke-screen that came out of the exhaust on initial start was impressive.

I've added some petrol into the tank, but didn't just want the pump to push any debris into the injectors, so removed the regulator return pipe, fitted a temporary one facing into a clear bottle.
Turn the ignition on/off a few times, to prime the system, until fuel sprays into the bottle, at which point the fuel rail and injectors are primed. The fuel that came through was perfectly clear.
The engine now starts using fuel from the tank. It has a permanent misfire, which was apparent when pouring petrol into the air intake, so isn't injector related, which needs investigating.

I also filled the cooling system, which eventually cleared all the air, but boiled up. I initially thought the thermostat was stuck closed, but after tapping the housing a few times was able to feel the lower radiator hose pass hot water, so that isn't the issue.
I couldn't see the fans come on, so need to investigate that before anything else.